WHEN CHELSEA LOST TERRY THEY LOST THEIR SOUL AS WELL

JOHN TERRY last played for Chelsea on December 13, 2006.

JOHN TERRY last played for Chelsea on December 13, 2006. That's only 42 days ago but in that time the club has started to collapse like a building stripped of its load-bearing wall.

Without him, Chelsea have only won one of their last five league games and been forced to rely on the generosity of Manchester United to stay in the title race.

Without him, they have drawn a Carling Cup semi-final first leg against Wycombe Wanderers. They have conceded an equaliser to Macclesfield Town in an FA Cup third-round tie.

Without him, Jose Mourinho went into Saturday's match against Liverpool at Anfield already expecting defeat, knowing his defence could not cope with Peter Crouch and Dirk Kuyt.

Without him, more and more of the burden has fallen on Frank Lampard, who can't win matches all by himself even if he often comes close.

Without him, the problems his presence camouflaged have burst into the open and suddenly everyone is asking awkward questions about Andriy Shevchenko.

Roman Abramovich has stayed away. Mourinho has threatened to quit. Peter Kenyon has worked overtime on damage limitation. Terry's absence, in short, has brought the club to the brink of implosion.

Another defensive colossus, Gary Neville, once remarked during a spell when he was sidelined through injury that the longer he was out, the better he got.

Damned with faint praise when he was in the team, those who had underestimated Manchester United's rightback suddenly realised his importance when he wasn't there.

Still, I thought the days had passed when a top-level Premiership club could miss a man in the way that Chelsea have missed John Terry.

There are other factors contributing to Chelsea's current plight, of course.

Selling William Gallas is starting to look worse and worse with every game.

And, applying the Neville theory once again, people are beginning to realise quite how good Joe Cole had become now he's missed most of the season.

But even though Chelsea fans might not quite be able to appreciate my train of thought, there's something wonderfully reaffirming about the effect Terry's absence has had on his club.

Not just because it's good to notice now and again that stopping goals is just as important as scoring them.

And not just because this season a few observers had started to take Terry for granted and aim a few gratuitous pops at him because he's England captain.

In a football era where money is everything, greed is good and some people judge footballers on the size of their pay packets, Terry has reminded us all that the timeless qualities he possesses are invaluable.

It's like the advert: a haughty midfielder like Michael Ballack is nice and a Rolls Royce like Shevchenko is easy on the eye but a man like John Terry is priceless.

Sure, Chelsea miss him for his aerial ability but that's really less than half of it. What they really miss is his leadership, his courage, his indomitability, his determination, his refusal to submit to pain, his ability to inspire by example.

You can't just nip out and buy those qualities in the January transfer window. They don't sell them on the peg. They don't do leadership and courage cut price.

Terry has become particularly vital to the way Chelsea function because of the polyglot nature of the modern Premiership. A team featuring Dutchmen, a Czech, a Ghanaian, Portuguese, a Frenchman, a German and an Ivorian needs a core more than ever.

The team spirit that was once generated by having 11 men speaking the same language and sharing the same culture has been diluted.

Men from different cultures populate Premiership football teams now and while our cosmopolitanism is something to celebrate, it is also something that needs a rock at that core.

That's why Neville is Manchester United captain and Steven Gerrard is Liverpool skipper and Thierry Henry, a man of relentless intensity, is captain at Arsenal.

These, and others, are the men within whom the fire would still burn brightly if you showered upon them all the riches in the world.

John Terry earns plenty of money. And soon he may earn more. But there's a reason for that. Because without him, Chelsea play like a team that has lost its soul.